Kirk & Anor v Ashdown & Anor B1/2000 [2001] HCATrans 525 (16 October 2001)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry

Brisbane No B1 of 2000

B e t w e e n -

JUDE CHRISTOPHER KIRK and DEBORAH ANN KIRK

Applicants

and

RONALD CLIVE ASHDOWN and HELEN IVY ASHDOWN

Respondents

Application for special leave to appeal

McHUGH J

KIRBY J

CALLINAN J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT SYDNEY ON TUESDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2001, AT 2.18 PM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

McHUGH J: Perhaps the matter could be called outside.

DEPUTY REGISTRAR: No appearance.

McHUGH J: Yes. The Deputy Registrar has certified that she has been informed by Raj Lawyers, the solicitors for the respondents, that the respondents will not be appearing at the hearing to make oral submissions and will abide the order of the Court save as to costs.

The Court is in a position to give a judgment in this matter.

Given the number of apparently conflicting judgments in the Federal Court concerning whether a bankruptcy notice is invalid because of the failure to identify the statutory source for calculating interest on a final judgment, this is a proper case for the grant of special leave to appeal.

However, the Court is concerned that, at the hearing of the appeal, it may not get the assistance from submissions that the importance of the matter requires. The respondents have filed no summary of argument, and the applicants have not presented oral argument, relying instead on the summary of written argument prepared by their solicitor.

This is a matter where both parties should be represented by counsel. If necessary, a request for legal assistance should be made to the Queensland Bar Association or alternatively to the New South Wales Bar Association. If either or both parties are not represented in the hearing of the appeal to this Court, it will be necessary for the Court to list the matter for further directions to ensure that it has proper assistance in disposing of the appeal and, in particular, having a contradictor for the applicant's contentions. Cf Guss v Johnstone (2000) 74 ALJR 884.

We direct the Registrar of this Court to forward a copy of this judgment to all parties involved in the appeal.

Call the next matter.

AT 2.20 PM THE MATTER WAS CONCLUDED